Posts by Patrick Endicott
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Purpose Over Profit: Rethinking What Makes a Business Truly Productive
For years, productivity has been measured by traditional financial outcomes. Revenue growth, profit margins, and return on investment are the benchmarks that dominate boardroom conversations. These metrics are useful and necessary, but they do not tell the whole story. When organizations focus only on profitability, they often miss what makes their success sustainable. Efficiency and earnings can rise in the short term even as employee morale, customer trust, and long-term resilience begin to decline.
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Tech Won’t Save You: Why Human-Centered Workflows Still Matter Most
Modern organizations are flooded with tools designed to make work faster, smarter, and more efficient. Project management platforms, AI-driven analytics, workflow automation, and communication apps are now staples of daily operations. These technologies promise to streamline tasks, reduce human error, and unlock productivity gains across the board. While some of these promises are fulfilled, others fall short. The assumption that better tools automatically create better results often leads companies to overinvest in technology while underinvesting in the people who use it.
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Flattening Corporate Layers Is Changing How Work Gets Led
Many large companies are removing layers to move faster and spend less. Across Corporate America, the average manager to employee ratio has stretched from roughly 1 to 5 in 2017 to about 1 to 15 by 2023. Google, Amazon, Intel, and Estée Lauder are among the firms that cut middle management in pursuit of speed, clearer accountability, and lower cost structures. The intent is simple. Fewer layers should mean quicker decisions and less bureaucracy. The reality is more nuanced.
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Ditch the Carrots and Sticks: Building Cultures That Actually Motivate
In many organizations, motivation is still treated as something external. Employees are pushed to perform through performance bonuses, public recognition, and the threat of poor evaluations or job loss. These methods are rooted in the idea that people will only do their best when they are given a strong enough reason to care. For decades, companies have leaned heavily on reward systems and disciplinary policies to drive results. This model may yield short-term gains, but it often fails to create lasting engagement. Once the reward is earned or the threat removed, motivation tends to fade.
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Citi’s Leadership Dilemma: How to Balance Performance, Culture, and Governance
Citigroup finds itself in a classic leadership bind. The bank recruited Andy Sieg in 2023 to accelerate its wealth strategy and simplify a sprawling organization. Since then, Citi has pointed […]
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Frontline Intelligence: The Untapped Engine of Innovation
In many organizations, leadership is expected to have all the answers. Managers create strategies, set expectations, and issue instructions that employees are tasked with executing. This top-down approach has long been the standard model, especially in traditional corporate settings. It reinforces the idea that leadership is about control and decision-making, while frontline workers are there to follow direction. While this structure can create a clear chain of command, it also produces blind spots. The people making decisions are often several steps removed from the work itself and may not have the context needed to solve problems effectively.
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Paramount Skydance bets on UFC to anchor streaming growth
Paramount Skydance is moving fast to translate a complex merger into a simple operating thesis. The company will lean on a reliable drumbeat of live events, a clearer release cadence for films and series, and a heavier use of artificial intelligence to improve development and personalization. The centerpiece is a seven year, multibillion dollar agreement that shifts UFC from a pay per view habit toward a streaming habit inside Paramount+.
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Beyond the Numbers: Why Chasing Metrics Can Derail Performance
In today’s data-rich workplaces, performance metrics are everywhere. Managers track revenue per employee, cost per unit, customer satisfaction scores, and dozens of other indicators meant to guide decisions. These numbers provide clarity and structure in environments that are often fast-paced and uncertain. They offer a snapshot of how things are going and make it easier to set goals and evaluate outcomes. But when numbers begin to dominate the conversation, they can create a false sense of control. Organizations may start optimizing for what is easiest to measure rather than what actually drives long-term success. As a result, what was meant to support performance begins to distort it.
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AT&T and the End of Workplace Loyalty: Rebuilding the Employment Contract
AT&T CEO John Stankey recently shook the corporate world by declaring the end of traditional workplace loyalty. In a memo responding to employee survey results, he suggested that long term job security, tenure based promotions, and expectations about remote work must change. He framed the employment relationship as increasingly transactional and guided by market realities. The message landed during a period when many companies are rethinking roles because of AI, automation, and shifting customer needs.
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The Hidden Cost of Silos: Why High-Performing Teams Work Across Boundaries
In many organizations, productivity is measured by how well each department performs within its own scope. Sales pushes to meet quotas, operations focuses on throughput, and finance keeps a close eye on spending. This seems like an efficient way to run a business. Each unit has defined responsibilities and is held accountable for specific results. The structure creates clarity, and the metrics provide guidance. However, when you take a step back and examine how the business operates as a whole, it becomes clear that success within departments does not always add up to organizational progress. Often, the parts function well individually but poorly in combination.
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Mastering Hybrid Work: A Manager’s Guide to Flexibility, Culture, and Performance
Managers face a pivotal moment as the boundaries between office and home continue to blur. In this guide, you’ll discover how to craft hybrid work models that balance flexibility with fairness, nurture a cohesive team culture across any distance, and lead with empathy and outcome-focused performance strategies. Dive in to learn actionable steps for turning hybrid work into your organization’s competitive advantage.
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The Power of Proximity: Why Smart Leaders Curate Their Circle
Leadership is rarely a solo act. Every decision, reaction, and insight is influenced by the people closest to you. Your inner circle shapes how you think, how you lead, and how you show up. Proximity has power, and smart leaders know that the people they spend time with can either fuel growth or slowly drain it. This applies to peer groups, direct reports, mentors, and even professional contacts. Leadership is not only about who you lead. It is also about who surrounds you while you lead. Curating that circle with intention is one of the most underrated strategies for long-term effectiveness.
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Diageo’s Leadership Shift Marks a Pivotal Turn in Crisis Management
Diageo, the world’s largest spirits maker known for icons such as Johnnie Walker and Guinness, announced on July 16, 2025, that CEO Debra Crew has stepped down after two challenging years in the top role. Crew’s departure comes by mutual agreement and follows a 44 percent drop in Diageo’s share price during her tenure. Stepping into the breach on an interim basis is CFO Nik Jhangiani, a seasoned finance executive with more than three decades of global experience.
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Evolve Away: When High-Performers Must Rethink the Roles They Outgrew
For many high-performing managers, success becomes part of their identity. It creates a sense of stability, earns recognition, and builds trust with others. Over time, though, the role that once […]
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AIG Appoints John Neal as President to Drive Integration and Digital Innovation
AIG has appointed John Neal as President to unite its reinsurance and property-casualty operations under a single leader and drive synergies across underwriting, claims, and distribution. Neal’s background at Lloyd’s of London and his focus on AI-driven risk assessment and claims automation aim to boost operational efficiency and enhance profitability. His leadership will accelerate AIG’s digital transformation and position the company for sustainable growth.
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Swallow the Minnow: Start Small to Spark Big Change
Managers often believe progress starts with tackling their biggest, most complex task. But in reality, the fastest path to momentum often begins with the smallest possible action. The phrase “swallow the minnow” captures this idea by encouraging leaders to begin their day or initiative with something quick, clear, and manageable. It may not be impressive at first glance, but it creates a fast psychological shift. By finishing a task early, you engage your focus and send a message to yourself that progress is already happening. That momentum can carry you into larger challenges with renewed energy and clarity. When small wins come first, they prepare the mind to handle bigger work more effectively.
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Should Apple Replace Tim Cook as CEO? Analysts Call for a Product-Focused Leader
Apple’s board faces pressure to find a CEO with a stronger product focus as analysts warn that Tim Cook’s operational strengths may not drive the rapid AI and innovation needed for Apple’s next growth phase.
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Forget Perfection: Why Managers Should Prioritize Consistency Over Clean Wins
When asked about the key to his performance during a record-breaking basketball season, one athlete gave an answer that holds surprising power for leaders: “My whole life is consistent.” He didn’t focus on raw talent or ambition. Instead, he emphasized rhythm and discipline. That same sense of rhythm can become a defining quality in leadership. In many professional settings, managers are expected to perform flawlessly, juggling tasks and decisions with the appearance of control. The reality, however, is that perfection is rare, fleeting, and often unsustainable. It demands too much, too often, and leaves little room for learning or resilience
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Mid-Year touchbase on Leadership Articles from MIT Sloan Management Review in 2025
Discover the five most popular leadership articles from MIT Sloan Management Review in 2025. Learn key insights on AI change management, strategic resilience, culture leadership, and more to guide your organization through uncertainty.
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Health Isn’t a Luxury: How Managers Can Build Microwins Into Everyday Wellness
For many managers, health becomes the first thing to sacrifice when pressure builds. Skipped meals, reduced sleep, back-to-back meetings, and endless screen time become the norm. There is an unspoken assumption that success requires personal depletion. But in reality, sustainable leadership depends on personal well-being. When your health suffers, your decision-making, patience, and resilience suffer too. You may still get things done, but you are not leading at your best.
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Leading with Liberty: What Independence Day Teaches Us About Great Management
Discover five inspiring management lessons drawn from the spirit of Independence Day. Learn how empowerment, vision, collaboration, resilience, and recognition can transform your team’s performance.
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UnitedHealth Names Patrick Conway CEO of Optum Health: Steering the Division Through Change
UnitedHealth Group appoints Patrick Conway as CEO of Optum Health to restore growth, advance value-based care models, strengthen compliance, and drive digital innovation amid regulatory challenges.
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Rewriting the Story of Work: Finding Meaning Whether You’re Lit Up or Burned Out
When most people think of work, they picture the thing that pays the bills. It is often reduced to a job description, a department, or a performance review. For some, work brings energy and purpose. For others, it becomes a source of pressure, routine, or quiet dissatisfaction. No matter where you land, your relationship with work has a powerful influence on your overall well-being. It shapes your identity, controls your schedule, and defines your sense of accomplishment. Yet at some point, many professionals stop asking themselves a simple question: does this still feel meaningful?
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Regis Corporation Announces CEO Transition: Ensuring Continuity and Strategic Renewal
Regis Corporation names veteran executive Jim Lain as interim CEO following Matthew Doctor’s departure, ensuring seamless leadership and ongoing digital innovation.
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The Invisible Balancing Act: Managing Work, Family, and Health Without Losing Yourself
The idea of work-life balance shows up everywhere. It appears in leadership seminars, corporate values, and wellness programs. Yet for many professionals, it feels like a phrase that belongs more in theory than in reality. Life does not move in clean, evenly divided segments. Work often flows into the evenings, family needs interrupt structured plans, and personal health is quietly set aside until it demands attention. Trying to balance everything equally can leave you feeling like you are always behind. No matter how carefully you manage your schedule, the scales never seem to settle evenly.